6 New Refurbishment Dates Added to Disneyland Closure Calendar for Summer 2026 & Beyond!

Summer may be the longest tourist season of the year at Disneyland, but there are still multiple ride refurbishments underway or recently added to the calendar. This covers those closures, along with more informal updates on other projects, including parking, ride testing, and more.

The good news is that, as reflected in recent updates to the 2026 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar, there really aren’t many major refurbishments happening right now. Even though summer is not the peak season that it used to be, it’s still the longest stretch of the year when tourists are the target demographic at Disneyland and DCA.

Accordingly, Disney tries to minimize ride closures during this time to make a favorable impression on first-timers, who typically have less, ahem, tolerance for downtime than do locals and Annual Passholders. This is nothing like it once was, when Disneyland front-loaded most refurbishments at the beginning of the year and had minimal downtime during the summer, but a less-pronounced version of that dynamic does still exist.

One interesting wrinkle is that 2026 Is Disneyland’s Busiest Year Since Revenge Travel. Or perhaps more accurately, it has been. At the start of the year, Disney released its best Disneyland ticket deal in over a decade, which dropped the per day cost of a Park Hopper to $68. That was wildly popular, significantly spiking crowd levels until it ended on May 21st.

Since then, crowds have not been low, but they have been lower. We’re still expecting a summer ticket deal for the reasons discussed in that post, but it’s possible that Disneyland opts against one. In which case, crowds are likely to decrease even further.

More importantly for the purposes of this post, lower attendance projections would open the door for more last-minute ride refurbishments being added to the calendar. That’s more or less the dynamic we saw last summer, when late June through August saw more attractions taken offline than we’d normally expect for this time of year. We’ll keep you posted about that.

In the meantime, it’s mostly good news. Here’s an update on several ride refurbishments that have recently been scheduled at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in Summer 2026…

Matterhorn Bobsleds

Earlier this week, Disneyland added another closure to the calendar for the Matterhorn Bobsleds starting July 20, 2026. This means that July 19, 2026 will be the last day to experience the coaster before it closes.

At the time, there was no reopening date announced. The closure was quietly added to the calendar, and that’s all of the information we had at the time. Thanks to a subsequent calendar update, we now have a reopening date for the Matterhorn Bobsleds: July 24, 2026.

That makes this a very brief refurbishment project, likely of a routine nature (which would explain the lack of permits or public filings related to the project). Of course, it’s always possible that the calendar is incorrect and the refurbishment will last longer, our assumption in this case is that these dates are accurate.

Given its advanced age, Matterhorn tends to receive routine refurbishments at least once per year. In fact, a closure of only 4 days is on the short side, as many recent refurbishments have been measured in weeks or months. Matterhorn has closed at least once per year since 2021, or since 2010 if you include the 2020 closure of the parks as a whole.

Don’t be surprised if there’s another refurbishment for Matterhorn later in 2026. If past precedent is any indication, the years that see shorter closures usually see multiple of them. (As opposed to a single multi-month project.)

Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind Testing

There’s been a wave of ride closures on Pixar Pier since the beginning of the year. Incredicoaster, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr, and Toy Story Midway Mania have all returned from refurbishment. Next up is Silly Symphony Swings, which does not have hours posted through July 24, 2026 (as far out as the calendar goes).

Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind has not yet reopened despite being scheduled to do so over 3 months ago. The spinner closed way back on February 27th for what was scheduled to be a two-day refurbishment, with the ride reopening March 1st. The attraction was also closed from January 5-23, 2026.

It has been a day-to-day closure since, with hours for the attraction removed and the following warning bulletin on the official website: “Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind is currently closed for refurbishment. Please check back here for updates.”

The good news is that, after months of sitting behind construction walls, all of the scaffolding is down and the spinner is cycling (h/t DisneyScoopGuy). The walls are still up at this point and no actual riders have been spotted, but this is nevertheless a positive development that suggests Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind could reopen soon. Although there have been no official updates, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it reopen over the weekend.

Astro Blasters is Back!

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters has reopened as of Friday, June 12, 2026 after a nearly two-month closure. As of the time of publication, the attraction is posting a 30 minute wait time.

We’re not in the park today and haven’t heard anything about changes to the attraction via social media. If this were a modernization on par with Walt Disney World, it’s likely that something would’ve been announced or teased by Disney before the park opened today.

More likely, this is the infrastructure project that lays the groundwork for a thematic and gameplay recharge. Given the smash success of the ‘recharge’ at Walt Disney World, it seems like a no-brainer for Disneyland to undertake such a project, potentially starting in August 2026 and debuting in Spring 2027. This is one to watch for at the D23 Expo!

Walt Disney Magical Life Quietly Closed

Walt Disney – A Magical Life is not on the official refurbishment schedule, but it has not been presented for the last several days. In looking at the calendar, this is day-to-day downtime, with no hours listed for June 12, but a normal schedule tomorrow.

This is how Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind appeared at first, back in early March before being removed from the calendar completely. Obviously, these are two fundamentally different attractions, so that’s not necessarily indicative of how this will play out. We’re more pointing to that closure to illustrate that Walt Disney – A Magical Life may not reopen tomorrow, next week, etc.

The good news is that the Walt Disney attraction plays in rotation at the Main Street Opera House alongside (or rather, back to back) with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. That iconic attraction is not impacted by this downtime, suggesting that there’s probably an issue with the Walt Disney Audio Animatronics figure. In the meantime, you can catch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln performances from 8 am until 8 pm daily.

Eastern Gateway Milestones

Months after confidential permits were first filed, we have a couple of major milestones on the Eastern Gateway parking structure and arrival experience.

Following the approval of a permit to demolish the Team Disney Anaheim East building (this is not the main TDA building that’s visible from the 5 Freeway), today is the last day that Cast Members will work out of that office (h/t Theme Park IQ). Disney will begin moving out of this office over the next few weeks and then the demolition will start.

Similarly, the Workers United Local 50 has posted that the Manchester Cast Member Parking Lot, which is adjacent to TDA East, will be closed starting June 28, 2026. This is not a huge surprise, as Disneyland previously provided notice to Cast Members that the surface lot would close this month or in early July.

This puts work on the Eastern Gateway slightly ahead of schedule. Approximately one year ago, Disneyland announced that the multi-year construction of the new Eastern Gateway arrival experience is slated to begin in Fall 2026. While it might sound like a boring infrastructure project, this is the first piece of the puzzle that’s actually quite critical to “unlocking” future development.

The new Eastern Gateway transportation hub at Disneyland Resort will be built on a portion of what’s currently the Manchester Cast Member parking lot. This new area will provide approximately 6,000 parking spaces, shuttle and rideshare areas, security screening and dedicated access for traffic off of Disney Way, improving parking and traffic flow throughout the resort area.

Although it’s the least consequential project for tourists, we here at Disney Tourist Blog are incredibly excited for Eastern Gateway. (It ranks above Avengers Campus expansion for me. Seriously!) The Eastern Gateway project has the potential to significantly ease arrival experience friction, and shave anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes off the time it takes us to get into the parks. It should be a huge development for northbound Orange County arrivals!

Autopia Ride Overhaul Deadline

As reported last month in Disney Sets Start for Autopia Modernization, the rite of passage Tomorrowland attraction will close at some point in 2027. Disneyland is finally moving forward with plans to replace the gas-powered cars at Autopia with a fleet of fully electric ride vehicles, which had first been informally announced years ago.

This modernization comes as Disneyland has reached an agreement with the California Air Resources Board to retire the attraction’s current gas-powered engines in 2027, and replace them with fully electric vehicles. The Autopia change is part of Disney’s broader environmental initiatives that include net-zero for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at Disneyland Resort.

The backstory behind this Autopia refurbishment is more interesting than you might expect. Thanks to a public records request (h/t Sammy Roth), we now know that this modernization was at least partially motivated by an administrative settlement with the state. Records indicate that the Autopia engines were modified outside their certified emissions configuration, Honda failed to certify the changes with the state, and Disney self-reported the administrative error to state regulators once it was discovered.

Consequently, Disneyland paid California $56,250 as part of a voluntary settlement two years ago, and agreed to convert or close Autopia by February 1, 2027. In other words, this is a deadline for the refurbishment start date, and is not necessarily conclusive of when it’ll actually begin. Autopia could close earlier; we just know it won’t be open come February 2, 2027!

BONUS: Holiday Overlay Installations

If you’re considering a trip to Disneyland at the tail end of Summer 2026 or beyond, keep an eye out for refurbishments of Haunted Mansion and “it’s a small world” to be added to the closure calendar. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will.

These are annual projects, with the downtime necessary to install the seasonal overlays and convert the attraction from their normal versions to their holiday overlays. This typically takes roughly 10 days to two weeks for each attraction, with the downtime being staggered.

Refurbishments are typically early to mid-August for Haunted Mansion and late October to mid-November for “it’s a small world” (holiday). Last year’s dates were August 9-21 for Haunted Mansion and October 31 to November 12 for “it’s a small world.”

This year, Halloween Time starts on August 21, 2026 and Christmas starts on November 18, 2026. Those are likely the latest reopening dates for the respective attractions. Likewise, expect ‘mirror image’ closures staggered in Winter 2027 after the holiday crowds depart to remove the overlays.

Again, don’t be surprised if there are more refurbishments added to the calendar between now and the time the seasonal overlays are added. It really depends upon how busy the parks end up being in the next month or so, which largely hinges upon whether or not there’s a summer ticket deal.

Whatever Disneyland opts to do, our sincere hope is that they knock out as many refurbishments as possible before the D23 Expo starts on August 14, 2026. The next couple of months are likely the calm before the storm, with crowds picking up for that event. Halloween starts only one week later, and is increasingly popular with each passing year. Then there’s the holiday season, then Winter 2027 and Spring Break. All of those stretches are busier than summer, so it makes sense to get as much work as possible done before then. We’ll keep you posted!

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the upcoming or ongoing ride refurbishments at Disneyland? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!